Watching Hillary Clinton coldly and unapologetically advocating partial birth abortion on live TV in front of millions of people was probably one of the most chillingly evil things I’ve ever witnessed.

She also promised to stand with America’s largest abortion chain, Planned Parenthood, who have been exposed as selling and making a profit from dismembered babies body parts.

A Partial Birth Abortion is performed by the baby being delivered feet first. The abortionist will then cut the spinal cord at the back of the baby’s neck while her head is still inside her mother. The abortionist will then use an instrument to suck out the baby’s brains before finally delivering her head, which may or may not still be attached to her body – depending on the severity of force used by the abortionist.

Donald Trump said “If you go with what Hillary is saying, in the ninth month, you can take the baby and rip it out of the womb of the mother, just prior to the birth of the baby. Now, you can say that that’s okay, and Hillary can say that that’s okay, but it’s not okay with me.”

Last night both candidates were guests at the Alfred E. Smith Catholic charities dinner. While the tradition of the Alfred E. Smith dinner to invite the Republican and Democrat nominee to raise money for charity is admirable, it was disturbing to see Cardinal Dolan laughing and joking with Hillary Clinton less than twenty-four hours after Hillary announced she supports abortion up to the moment of birth. Worse, when he spoke at the end, he made a vague oblique reference to the life of the unborn when he said some of the money raised would help poor women give birth.

I understand that the dinner is to raise money and everyone tries to be civil, but both Trump and Hillary took shots at each other as if it were a campaign rally. Certainly, Cardinal Dolan, archbishop of the Diocese of New York, traditionally viewed as the spokesman for the Catholic Church in the United States, could and should have spoken in plain language that it is wrong to kill the unborn. He should have said killing an unborn child minutes before the child is born is infanticide, immoral, and an intrinsic evil according the Catholic Church.

I find it ironic that on Monday night this week Cardinal Dolan was speaking at The Bishop’s Respect Life dinner for the Diocese of Colorado Springs.

What stopped the Cardinal from saying something in defense of the unborn? Was he afraid of spoiling a posh dinner? Is he afraid of offending people? Or is it that he knows that many of the extremely rich and powerful catholics in that room support Hillary and her pro-choice stance, and he doesn’t want to upset them?

Personally, if it was me, I would have waited for that moment between the main course and dessert. I would have got up and simply said “If you vote for Hillary Clinton, then you have the innocent blood of the unborn on your hands. Enjoy your dessert!”

Did Pope Francis just say that it is ok to use artificial contraception in some cases?

This is the question that is being asked all over the world at the moment. As usual following the off-the-cuff answers given during his airplane interviews, Pope Francis has left a wake of questions and confusion. One begs the question of whether he should be doing this style of interview at all? I often wish he would just take a sedative on his plane trips and have a nice long sleep rather than unleashing the hounds of misinterpretation and misunderstanding.

Let’s gloss over the fact that he just told Donald Trump he was not a Christian, and instead focus on the recent comments concerning the Zika virus. Did he say it was ok to use condoms to avoid a pregnancy in these circumstances?

The first thing to do is to ignore any shock headlines and look up the exact transcript of what was said:

Paloma García Ovejero, Cadena COPE (Spain): “Holy Father, for several weeks there’s been a lot of concern in many Latin American countries but also in Europe regarding the Zika virus. The greatest risk would be for pregnant women. There is anguish. Some authorities have proposed abortion, or else to avoiding pregnancy. As regards avoiding pregnancy, on this issue, can the Church take into consideration the concept of “the lesser of two evils?””

Pope Francis: “Abortion is not the lesser of two evils. It is a crime. It is to throw someone out in order to save another. That’s what the Mafia does. It is a crime, an absolute evil. On the ‘lesser evil,’ avoiding pregnancy, we are speaking in terms of the conflict between the fifth and sixth commandment. Paul VI, a great man, in a difficult situation in Africa, permitted nuns to use contraceptives in cases of rape.

Don’t confuse the evil of avoiding pregnancy by itself, with abortion. Abortion is not a theological problem, it is a human problem, it is a medical problem. You kill one person to save another, in the best case scenario. Or to live comfortably, no? It’s against the Hippocratic oaths doctors must take. It is an evil in and of itself, but it is not a religious evil in the beginning, no, it’s a human evil. Then obviously, as with every human evil, each killing is condemned.

On the other hand, avoiding pregnancy is not an absolute evil. In certain cases, as in this one, or in the one I mentioned of Blessed Paul VI, it was clear. I would also urge doctors to do their utmost to find vaccines against these two mosquitoes that carry this disease. This needs to be worked on.”

As we know, the Popes words can often be taken out of context and twisted by the media. And that is exactly what happened following this recent plane interview. But then, on 19th Feb 2016 Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi affirmed that the Holy Father wasindeed speaking of “condoms and contraceptives” when on the flight back from Mexico, Pope Francis said couples could rightly “avoid pregnancy” in the wake of the Zika virus scare.

Fr. Lombardi told Vatican Radio today, “The contraceptive or condom, in particular cases of emergency or gravity, could be the object of discernment in a serious case of conscience. This is what the Pope said.”

Vatican Radio have issued a sound recording and full transcript of Lombardi’s comments, so there is really no doubt whatsoever that he did actually say that. I suppose there is always the possibility that Lombardi twisted the words of Pope Francis – but I doubt it. There would have been some correction issued by the vatican already if that was the case.

So what do we do now?

For those of us who have struggled with and committed to church teachings on sex and marriage this comes as a major blow. Does the Pope really have no idea how hard it can be sometimes? Does he have no idea about the rewards and benefits to the marriage of remaining in line with the church on this issue? Does he think that bending the rules regarding artificial contraception is being ‘merciful’ in some way?

I don’t know. I just don’t know with him I’m afraid. I’m as confused as you are. This is not the first time this canny old Jesuit has left a wake of upset and confusion in his path, and I don’t think for a moment it will be the last.

I remember a few years back when Benedict came to the UK and I stood on the side of the road literally jumping up and down, cheering as loud as I could as he drove into his papal residence in Wimbledon. Benedict was my hero – my Father. I trusted him. I can’t say I would be doing that if Francis came to visit. I just don’t feel that way about Francis. I feel extremely let down and rather embarrassed if I am totally honest.

But one thing is even worse than that. Francis leaves me with a funny mixed feeling of hopelessness and suspicion which stinks of political motivation. Following everything that has occurred so far in his papacy I am left with two thoughts:

Either he has absolutely no idea of what he is doing, or he knows exactly what he is doing. I don’t know which is worse…